Adonis in Athens - Page 15

“Do I have to decide now?” she asked, covering his forearms with her hands. His arms overlapped just under her breasts, holding her close to him, and she nearly shivered with longing. In the three years since he’d touched her, no one had made her feel so sexy or aroused from such a simple gesture.

“Not about everything.” He pressed a kiss to the side of her face. “But you’ll probably need to decide about whether or not I can kiss you in the next five seconds.”

“I don’t need five seconds to make that decision.” She turned in his arms and tilted her face up to his. When his lips found hers, they were hesitant, nipping and tentatively caressing, as if waiting for her signals. They’d kissed a lot during their brief time together in Las Vegas, and time hadn’t dulled the excitement she felt when he did it.

When his tongue slipped between her lips she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist so the water didn’t move her away from him. Her arms closed around his neck and in that moment, as their tongues came together in a lazy tangle, she could all but feel him taking back what was his. Three years of longing came crashing down on both of them, memories of their intimacy washing over them in a tidal wave of arousal that hit them both at once.

“Fuck,” he growled, pulling his mouth from hers. “If sex is off-limits, this has to stop now, because another few minutes and I’m going to be inside you, right here in front of the whole beach.”

“That might not be a good idea,” she panted, her breath coming in little gasps. “I don’t think I’ll like Greek jails.”

He gave her a sexy grin. “Most likely not, but it’d be worth every damn minute for me.”

“Oh, Apollo.” She buried her face in his neck, letting her legs drop down and float out behind her.

“What is it, koukla mou?”

“I don’t want to say no—I don’t want to set any limits.”

“But?”

“But we have to.” She raised her head to look into the liquid emerald of his eyes. “Don’t we? We’re picking up right where we left off and that’s just going to make saying goodbye even harder. I cried when you left.”

“Did you?” He put his hand on her cheek and used his thumb to stroke it.

“For a week.”

“I’m sorry, koukla.”

“I think letting you make love to me would take that to a whole other level of longing… This trip was about closure, not reopening the wound.”

“Was it a wound?” he asked softly, staring into her eyes with so much tenderness she nearly started to cry.

“Maybe not for a 22-year-old guy on spring break, but for a girl like me? You took a piece of my heart with you when you left, and I came here to get it back. If you keep touching me…looking at me like you are now, I’ll be lost in you all over again.”

“Even horny 22-year-old college students recognize something special when they find it,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers. “I missed you. I kicked myself for weeks for just handing you that stupid business card and walking away—why didn’t I just ask for your number?—as if a shy, sensitive girl like you was going to come after me!” He rolled his eyes in disgust. “I was so fucking stupid.”

“You missed me too?” Her voice was a tiny whisper, her eyes unable to be torn from his smoldering gaze.

“For months,” he said. “I kept trying to think of a reason to get back to Las Vegas, but I didn’t have your number or know where you lived. I had finals and then there was some family drama…. My parents came for graduation and it seemed like it was better—or at least easier—to let it go.”

“Tell the truth,” she said intently. “All this time—did you believe we were married?”

“In my heart, I did. I wasn’t sure, but since I never heard from you, I told myself I was being silly, that we obviously weren’t. I kind of hoped so, though.”

“Why?”

“Because then I’d have a reason to see you again.”

“You’re making this really hard,” she whispered.

“Stay with me,” he whispered back. “You must have more than four days of vacation. Spend a month here with me. Let’s get to know each other. Let’s find out what drove two otherwise rational, level-headed college students to walk into a Las Vegas chapel and elope after knowing each other for only a few days.”

“Alcohol?”

He shook his head. “I’ve never known alcohol to change a person’s heart. Lower inhibitions? Yes. Make you more daring? Absolutely. Take away a filter? Undoubtedly. But to change who you are at your core? I don’t believe it. You see it happen all the time…the guy who’s always been in love with the girl but would never admit it for fear of rejection? Then he gets shit-faced and shouts his feelings from the rooftops. The alcohol made him braver, but it didn’t change him—he already loved her. So we had a reason for doing what we did. Let’s figure it out, Paige. Stay longer.”

“I can’t afford—”